Cuomo executive order will grant parolees right to vote

1of2NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 18: New York Governor Andrew Cuomo speaks during a rally of hundreds of union members in support of IBEW Local 3 (International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers) at Cadman Plaza Park, September 18, 2017 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. More than 1800 members of IBEW Local 3 are entering their sixth month of a strike in a contract dispute with Charter Communications/Spectrum. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images) ORG XMIT: 775045427Drew Angerer2of2Karlin, Rick

ALBANY — Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed an executive order Wednesday that would potentially grant New York state's 35,000 parolees the right to vote.

The order directs the state's Department of Corrections and Community Supervision to routinely send records of all people who have been released from incarceration to Cuomo's office to be considered for a pardon that would only affect their electoral rights. While not indicated in the order, all pardon requests will automatically be approved, according to Cuomo's office.

"It is unconscionable to deny voting rights to New Yorkers who have paid their debt and have re-entered society," Cuomo said in a statement. "This reform will reduce disenfranchisement and will help restore justice and fairness to our democratic process. Withholding or delaying voting rights diminishes our democracy."

Currently, parolees convicted of felonies, many of them black or Latino, are barred from casting ballots in New York. People on probation and those who have completed their parole are permitted to vote.

Cuomo, a second-term Democrat who is running for re-election, announced the measure at the National Action Network's annual conference in Manhattan Wednesday, while introducing the organization's founder the Rev. Al Sharpton.

"We can re-enfranchise people ... and we can be the reality that Dr. King spoke of. It's not a dream. It is a reality if we make it so," said Cuomo, while touting his record on criminal justice reform.

Republicans in the Senate and Assembly were quick to slam the measure, saying it bypasses the normal legislative process, and poses a danger to society.

"Frankly, I'm dumbfounded," Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan told reporters at the Capitol Wednesday. "This is a radical, radical departure from the way legislation should be enacted ... and it's horrific public policy."

Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb sent out a statement characterizing Cuomo's order as a "political Hail Mary" that had real-world consequences.

"Murderers, rapists and abusers, who made the choice to break the law, don't deserve to vote unless their sentences are served," he said.

But electoral reform experts say that the order is an incremental step toward expanded ballot access, that for years has gotten nowhere in the Legislature.

"It comes back to basic fairness in democracy. You are paying taxes, you may send your kids to public school, you work and live in your community, and you don't have any voice in what happens," said Sean Morales Doyle, counsel at the Democracy Center at the Brennan Center for Justice.

Cuomo is facing a left-flank challenge from actress and activist Cynthia Nixon, who recently won the endorsement of the Working Families Party. Nixon, who last week pressed Cuomo on marijuana legalization, responded to the move, calling it long overdue.

"For eight years, Cuomo governed like a Republican — handing control of our state to his ultra-rich donors and the party of Trump," said Nixon. "Now he's scared of communities all across New York who want to replace him with a real Democrat. We don't buy the Governor's new song-and-dance routine. Voter suppression in New York should have ended eight years ago, from the rights of parolees to access to early voting and automatic registration."

About the order

Gov. Andrew Cuomo's executive order on granting parolees the right to vote: